Louisville, Ky. – Racing is all about progress. Drivers and teams search for gains in performance and speed constantly. For Jacob Abel and his Abel Motorsports team, the search for speed moves to a new stage this weekend: the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, on track at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, for the Kohler Grand Prix.
Abel Motorsports, based in Louisville, KY, currently campaigns a two-car effort in another prominent open wheel development series. 17-year-old Jacob is 12th currently in that championships in his second season. He ran one Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires weekend in 2017 with an established USF2000 team, picking up a 9th place finish at Mid Ohio.
For Jacob and his team, the 4-mile Road America layout presents a different sort of challenge. “It’s an awesome race track. It’s the first track I ever went to as a spectator and as a driver, it’s really special to me. The Carousel, the Kink…those are tough, but it’s a lot of fun.”
The Abel Motorsports team, led by owner Bill Abel and Team Manager Mark Gibbs, had only one day at Putnam Park in Indiana to shake down the new Tatuus USF-17 machine before taking part in an official series test last week at Road America.
Abel Motorsports’ driver coach, veteran Road to Indy competitor Shelby Blackstock, was pleased that Jacob Abel posted the 12th best time of the test.
“Getting some laps in traffic at Road America is a real eye-opener,” said Shelby. “Being part of the Mazda Road to Indy, being in front of IndyCar teams and owners, it’s serious business. Jacob’s ready for it, the team’s ready for it. It’s going to be a great weekend.”
Team principal Bill Abel is excited to have the opportunity to field a car in a new series for his young driver. “Our whole goal is to become a top-shelf open wheel race team. We’re building and growing quickly to reach that goal. There’s a bit of a lull in the schedule this month in the series where we compete regularly, so we thought getting into USF2000 and the Mazda Road to Indy now was a really good idea. It’s a good way to give Jacob more quality seat time.”
For driver Jacob Abel, weekend expectations are realistic. “We want to finish as high as we can. A top ten would be a good weekend for us, considering how little time we have with the car and how much we have to learn.”
Abel Motorsports’ quest for knowledge, speed, and performance resumes this weekend in the Kettle Moraine of Wisconsin. Qualifying for the Kohler Grand Prix takes place Friday afternoon, June 22nd, with Race 1 on Saturday afternoon and Race 2 of the doubleheader weekend on Sunday morning.